Buy a new NVIDIA graphics card with EVE Online currency
Need a new graphics card?
Do you have a fountain of PLEX burning a hole in your wallet?
Are you now asking yourself, "what the hell is PLEX?"
If you answered "yes" to the first two questions then read on. If you answered "yes" to the third one, then congratulations on your increased likelihood for having a girlfriend. And you get to keep reading as well.
CCP Games, developers of the space-ship business MMO EVE Online has announced the totally serious and not at all made up sale of high-end NVIDIA graphics cards (GeForce 560GTX) that can be purchased with PLEX - virtual currency EVE Online players can use to pay subscription fees instead of using actual money.
CCP and NVIDIA will start by selling 100 cards (one per account), and will sell more in the future should this promotion succeed. Naturally, the value of PLEX has skyrocketed in one of the most obvious cases of currency manipulation ever.
To further convolute matters, gamers can buy PLEX (short for pilot's license extension) with EVE Online's primary in-universe currency called ISK which can be earned in-game (obviously). This means that theoretically you can purchase a top of the line graphics card with nothing more than your hard core gaming skills (that you use to earn ISK which you use to purchase PLEX).
I'd say I've heard it all now, but of course that's not true because the well of insanity that your average game developer's or publisher's marketing department draws their ideas from is endless.
